Shaq, DMX Take Hit as Real Estate and Economy Continue to Slide

January 6th, 2009 | by Staff

The down turn in the real estate market is affecting everyone in one way or another. According to the New York Miami Heat basketball star Shaquille O’Neal is having a tough time unloading multi-million dollar Star Island mansion.

O’Neal has dropped the asking price for the Miami estate from $35 million to $25 million. He paid 18.8 million for the mansion in 2004 after being traded to the Miami Heat. The property has been on the market for nearly two years.

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On the more dire side of the spectrum (though this may have more to do with his personal problems rather than the economy and real estate market), the Arizona home of former rap superstar DMX is in foreclosure.

Currently jailed pending sentencing on multipule charges including drug possession and theft, things got worst for X when news surfaced that his home had slipped into foreclosure.

The property, which had been left vacant since a May (08) police raid and has been the target of looters who’ve emptied the house of all valuables, was purchased in 2003 for $600,000. The bank is looking to recoup $429,000 in mortgage debt.